St. Paul daily globe., 1887-11-14
DETECTED BY A BUTTON.
How a Detective Found a Wife
and Caught a Criminal at the
Same Time.

Same Time.
"Thomas Pratt, New York"
A simple inscription, in bold hand,
on certain hotel register. There was
nothing unusual about it, merely an
ordinary, everyday occurrence, and yet
the original, who came in late in the
afternoon, was one OF the most noted
man-hunters many years ago. A pretty,
graceful little woman of about forty had
left his side but moment before, and
the handsome, broad-shOuldered de-
tective sat converSing with an old
friend.
''Tom, where did you meet that hand
some little wife Of yOurS?" inquired the
friend.
aWhatm calculated the detective,
shave you never heard of that?''
"Nary a word" was the reply.
"Well." said Tom muSingly, 81 got
her in rather peculiar way during one
of my many experiences. Certain pOr
tions of the metropolis were electrified
one day many years ago by the news
that Mrs. c. had disappeared. She
was wealthy, middle-aged widow and
lived quite alone with one pretty
daughter, though in great style. She
had gone, certain, leaving no trace
whatever behind her, and the public
was still talking of it when they were
dumfounded to hear also of the daugh-
ter'S disappearance. The police took
charge of the case, but finally gave it
up in despair. was sent for and the
case placed in my hands. / had been
aching to take hold of it right along,
but got it after the trail had grown cold.
The first thing did was to see Mrs.
G--'s lawyer. He had the keys of
the residence, and making known my
errand, l secured them and went to the
house. Two rooms were in confusion, just
as though the ladies had left them for
moment. A thorough search failed to
reveal anything but
HEAVY, PECULIAR BUTTON,
the like of which had never seen be-
fore. 1t was nothing to work ON, but l
put it safely away in my pocket. l re-
turned to the lawyer.
"'Mr. Gray" said I, What relatives
had Mrs. c. in this city?'
"'The only one she has in the world is
a nephew living up town.
81 was not very long locating the
nephew, a young devil who would
doubtless come in for the old lady'S
property at her death. / thought l had
my man, but later events proved my
mistake. / shadowed him persiStently
and bided my time. One day something
occurred that caused me to leave the
nephew alone for a while. | had entered
a low Italian grog shop on the dock in a
dirty, greasy rig, and noticed three sus-
piciOuS-looking buffers sitting at table
engaged in conversation in a low tone.
They were dressed in short, heavy pea
jackets of queer pattern, and OCCASION
ally cast stealthy glances at me. l
watched them closely ,and then let them
know l was watching them. After some
talk in still lower tone of voice, one of
them came over to me and slapped me
on the shoulder. l jumped up quick as
lightning and covered the fellow with
my revolver. "'Blast ye," said |, ''yer
one of them burned fly cops, amt We.
Well We don't git me, so stand aSide."
This was good strike for me, as they
were my friends instantly, and in a
few minutes / made them feel
baby reputation. i could scarcely re-
press my excitement when / saw the
buttons on the leaders coat were eX-
aetIy like the one 1 found in the resi-
dence, and, to make it better, one button
was off of his coat. / knew / had my
men, and by deep work succeeded in
Joining the gang. Their rendezvous
was about fifty miles out and three
miles from the railroad, and we arrived
there late in the afternoon. l was made
acquainted with the premises, and after
supper taken to see the two prisoners,
Mrs. c. and her daughter Maggie,
whom, of course, you have anticipated
were there. They drew from US in
alright, and, as we were about to leave
the room, l said: Hold on pards,
iemme kiss the young-un.' They
grinned and said.All right approached
the girl. She screamed and tried to
hide her face but | grabbed her, i'm
pressed the kiss on her mouth and at
the same time managed to slip my card
in her hand. Well, to make long
story short, the real criminal was weli
known
NEW YORK GAMBLER.
"The young nephew was III his debt